At a time when crores of rupees are being pumped into the creation of captive breeding sites of vultures across the country, one of the largest natural nesting colonies of Gyps Indicus or long billed vultures (LBV) of the country, on the Bayana cliffs of the Aravalis (40 kms from Bharatpur) in Rajasthan, is turning into a graveyard of these critically-endangered birds and crying for protected status. While the officially banned diclofenac for veterinary purpose continues to be diverted to cattle in the form of medicines manufactured for human use with similar composition, illegal quarrying of red sandstones in the cliffs is also resulting into the loss of their natural habitat. The population of LBV that is endemic to Indian subcontinent and included in the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has declined by 97 per cent. The IUCN is the main international authority on the conservation status of species and happens to be the oldest and largest global environmental network of the world. The site of the vulture colony at Bayana spreads over an area of about 15 km-20 km on the steep cliffs of the Aravali mountain range. Dr Pradeep Sharma, a veterinarian, working for vulture conservation, for the past decade, said,